Luke

Early church fathers Jerome (about A.D. 400 and Eusebius (about A.D. 300) identified Luke as being from Antioch. His interest in Antioch is clearly seen in his many references to that city (Acts 11:19-27; Acts 13:1-3; Acts 14:26; Acts 15:22 ,Acts 15:22,15:35; Acts 18:22 ). Luke adopted Philippi as his home, remaining behind there to superintend the young church while Paul went on to Corinth during the second missionary journey (Acts 16:40 ).

Paul identified Luke as a physician (Colossians 4:14 ) and distinguished Luke from those “of the circumcision” (Colossians 4:11 ). Early sources indicate that Luke was a Gentile. Tradition holds that he was Greek. The circumstances of Luke's conversion are not revealed. An early source supplied a fitting epitaph: “He served the Lord without distraction, having neither wife nor children, and at the age of 84 he fell asleep in Boeatia, full of the Holy Spirit.” See Luke, Gospel of

T. R. McNeal